A recurring theme in William Shakespeare's King Lear is the perpetual struggle between order and chaos, which plays out in the arena of existence human. While characters such as Lear, Cordelia, Albany, and Edgar attempt to impose their sense of divine and moral order on the confusing world around them, the insubordination of Goneril, Regan, and Edmund serves to undermine these attempts, leading inexorably to to a catastrophic climax in the story. the final scene of the play. Interestingly, the piece does not follow a direct downward path from order to chaos; rather it is a roller coaster, suffering a fall as Goneril, Regan and Edmund usurp the throne, then a slow rise as all three die in the final scene, and finally a sharp fall after the central moment of the text : Cordelia's. death. As a playwright, Shakespeare knew that his work was meant to be performed, and this structure allows for the most emotional response from the audience. Instead of a gradual decline in order, which would have given the audience time to prepare for the coming chaos, Shakespeare gives us a sense of hope that suddenly turns to despair. Thus, the very structure of the play reflects the disorder that governs the lives of its characters. During Act V, scene iii, towards the end of which Cordelia dies, we witness the growing success of Albany and Edgar in their attempts to re-establish the orders of law and divine judgment; However, when the virtuous Cordelia is killed, these concepts become incompatible with reality and King Lear descends into chaos. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay At the beginning of Act V, scene iii, chaos has gripped the kingdom; the monarchy, along with other positions, is in disarray. Lear, believing that his sentence is to live out his days in prison with Cordelia, attempts to withdraw from the turmoil of the kingdom and establish a new order in prison. He said: [We will hear] poor rascals talking about the news from the court; and we will talk with them also, who loses and who wins; who is inside and who is outside; and assumes the mystery of things, as if we were God's spies; and we will exhaust, in a fortified prison, packs and sects of the great, who ebb and flow at the whim of the moon. (V,iii, 13-19)In prison, Lear says, he and his daughter will maintain a certain link with the proceedings of the court, the confusion of which he underlines with his nonchalance “who loses and who wins; who is in , and who is absent." By discussing with such lightness the state of constant fluctuation of the monarchy, Lear highlights not only this turmoil, but also the absurdity of it all; for Lear, it matters little "who is within,” because sooner or later he will become “who is without.” Having recognized this uselessness, Lear goes on to separate himself and Cordelia from the chaos that has taken over, asserting that they can “take the mystery upon themselves.” things, / As if they were God's spies", outside observers of said chaos coming from an ordered celestial realm, and as such, the only person capable of understanding the chaotic world Then, saying: "we will wear out, / In a walled prison, packs and sects of greats", Lear posits that a life in the "walled prison" of order will necessarily outlive the warring groups who have created chaos in its realm; the very chaos produced by power-hungry factions serves to destroy any chance of their ultimate survival. Thus, as the final scene begins, we witness a conscious recognition and withdrawal from the perils of political and moral chaos, followed shortly thereafter by Albany and Edgar's attempt to eliminate thechaotic forces. Later in the scene, in the middle of an internal conflict. quarreling among the conspirators, the Duke of Albany attempts to regain the lost order of law. After learning of the extramarital affair between his wife and Edmund, Albany said angrily: Stay again; listen to reason. Edmond, I arrest you for capital treason; and, in your reach, this golden serpent (pointing to Goneril). For your complaint, sister-in-law, I forbid it in the interest of my wife; it is that she is subcontracted to this lord, and I, her husband, I contradict your scourges. (V,iii,83-88) This speech highlights Albany's desire to erase the crimes of his wife and her group, to return to the days before Cordelia's banishment. In the first line, he implores Edmund to "hear reason", despite the necessary exclusion of reason for the villains' mutiny against the traditional order of monarchy. Albany then "arrests" Edmund, once again seeming unaware of the complete lack of a legal system in the chaotic kingdom that has emerged. Finally, referring to Goneril's desire to marry Edmund, Albany calls her "underhanded"; Yet Goneril clearly did not honor her filial contract with her father, so Albany has no reason to believe that she will obey her marriage contract with him. In essence, Albany strives to superimpose the old set of legal rules onto a world in which legality doesn't matter. At this stage of the play, his attempt therefore seems childish and illusory; Later, however, the audience realizes that the villains' preferred existence cannot survive, and Albany's sense of order begins to prevail. This scene represents the turning of the knob to open the door for the law's re-entry into the kingdom. Shortly afterward, Edgar asserts that the divine order of good and evil still exists even in the midst of political chaos; the deaths of the three conspirators seem to support this assertion. The rightful heir to Gloucester, Edgar enters the scene to confront his illegitimate brother, Edmund. After defeating his adversary, Edgar warns him: “The gods are just, and from our pleasant vices / Make instruments to torment us” (V,iii,170-171). Thus, like Albany before him, Edgar attempts to impose a system of order where none is yet apparent. If the gods were truly just, Cordelia would never have been banished from the kingdom, Gloucester would still have her eyes and Lear his throne. However, as the scene develops, the audience begins to witness more and more evidence that Edgar's claim is the truth. First, Edgar defeats Edmund, leaving Gloucester County to its rightful owner. Second, in a struggle for Edmund's love, the two conniving sisters, Goneril and Regan, kill each other. Not only does this support Edgar's assertion of divine justice via the creation of self-destructive vices, but also Lear's earlier indication that order would necessarily survive chaos, which is too unstable to survive. To the audience, as tension mounts, it appears that the forces of order and morality are able to overcome those of chaos and wrongdoing. Immediately before the play's crucial moment, the audience is given one final clue that order is in place. will prevail. The dying Edmund consciously abandons his evil ways and calls off Cordelia's execution in the prison. He says: I want to do good, despite my own nature. Send quickly, be brief, to the castle; for my writings are on the life of Lear and on Cordelia: No, send them in time. (V, iii, 243-247) Edmund reinforces the ordered rules of conscience, rejecting his previous chaotic and amoral outlook in favor of doing "good." Furthermore, with his instructions to "be brief" and "send on time", Edmund.